Mixed Drinks
by Steampoweredbunny
Summary: After going off to college, reality hits Danny in the face like a brick: Growing up can be a lonely process. What happens when the first blast from the past is an unpleasant surprise, and the second is an enemy looking to get a job at the same place as him? Rated M for language and future situations. (DannyxDash)
1. Lonliness

His only beacon of light was diminishing. Diminishing like the glow of plasma as it died away. And what was he to do, sit around and wait for it to regain that magnificent glow that lit up his life with gleams of hope and happiness? It had been years since the last ghost attack. Months since he'd seen his family, Tucker, Sam… hell, Danny hadn't even seen any old rivals from the ghost zone in ages, either! Granted, they weren't on the best of terms, but he managed to work up mutual agreements with a majority of them, and had even gotten used to them popping in every now and then to fool with him or play pranks on the three. But those were his high school days. Could it have been that they had no idea of his move away from home, of his enrollment in a university and the beginning of his life? A feeling of unease made itself present as it curled up in the pit of his stomach. Surely they'd be able to find him with no trouble. They found him in various places ranging from school to out of town malls all those other times. Black brows furrowed as the halfa went into a deeper concentration. _Everybody _had gone off the radar ever since Danny had arrived at his first ever dorm. For the first time since he had acquired his ghostly abilities, Danny felt isolated from the world.

"_Hurry up, Danny, or we're leaving without youuuuu!" shouted Sam as loud as she could from the other side of his bedroom window as the halfa frantically searched about for his gloves. Feeling the anxiety of rushing around get to him, the teen unlocked his window and hoisted the glass up, popping his head out into the snowy outdoors. "Just gimme a minute, I can't find my stupid gloves!" Danny bellowed back, heaving out an irritated sigh as he ducked back into his room and shut the window before the snickering goth got the chance to launch a snowball at his face. After a few more minutes of tearing his room apart, the dark-haired male let out a gleeful "Aha!" upon locating the leather gloves. How they managed to get underneath his bed was upon him. Not even a second glance was given to his pigsty of a room once the gloves covered his hands, and he raced out and down the stairs, only pausing to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. He opened the door with the widest of grins, and- "… Guys?" Danny took a few cautious steps forward, the fear of being ambushed having had instilled within him. But as he trudged further ahead, he realized that he was alone. Had they really gone off without him? "Mom, did you see where Sam and Tucker went?" he yelled loud enough, hoping his mother had heard him from inside the house. No answer. Slowly, he turned around, and his blue hues widened. Where had his house gone? "Why is everyone gone..?" _

Danny woke with a start, pale hands trembling from the sorrow that made itself present in his mind while he slept. A cold dampness pressed against his cheek; he'd been subconsciously crying. It was no wonder, a dream like that could probably make anyone cry! Sniffling quietly, Danny slumped over the edge of his bed and got to his feet, a shiver creeping up his spine as soon as his body had left the warm blankets. Any other day, the halfa would've stayed curled up in bed while his mother brought him hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows. Then again, it wasn't often that he had such sorrowful dreams. Or cried in his sleep. Hell, the last time he woke up crying was after watching "It" when he was six! But this was college, not high school. Missing classes on account of being down in the dumps was a guaranteed failure. The only good excuse to actually have to miss a class was if one literally couldn't get out of bed due to illness. And Danny was here to build up the start of his life! There was _no_ time for feeling blue! Unlike his high school years, he planned to enjoy college, and that was that. "First, let's get you shut," he muttered to the open window through chattering teeth. Turns out the heat was up way too much for his liking the night before, resulting in the window being opened for some cool air. As soon as the window was shut nice and tightly, Danny took his first look of the campus during early morning. And froze. Just a few inches away from him, beyond the protective glass, fell little, white flakes. Snow drifted down to the earth in a leisurely pace, only to pile up onto the few feet that had already fallen. His fingertips brushed against the glass to leave the fogged images of fingerprints, as though pining to feel the cool frost against his skin. "I really hope that it was you who triggered my dream," he whispered solemnly. Maybe the first few classes of the semester would be canceled now. If anything but the dream, at least it would give him a chance to call his parents.


	2. Unpleasant Surprises

**Sorry it took me a while to upload the second chapter to this one... My classes have been stressing me out a little, but i'm slowly getting myself back on track, and the wifi in my apartment has finally been hooked up! So expect more frequent updates.**

**I feel like this entire fic is gonna have something of a dark mood. I recommend listening to For Everything A Reason by Carina Rounds while reading this, since I feel that it really fits the mood~.**

"Yes, mom. I have everything I need." The over-the-phone conversation with his mother lasted longer than he'd expected…

"Oh, but are you sure? Your father and I could stop by real quick to drop off anything you need, honey!" No matter what age he was, his mother would always play the part of the overprotective, mother hen who somehow morphed into a bear when her children were in danger. Danny could only wonder how the woman would be when he and Jazz were well into their fifties. Lanky limbs spread themselves out over the bed he lay upon, phone laying upon his chest with the screen faced down so the other end of the conversation wouldn't be muffled.

"Mooooom, I promise i'm fine. I was actually looking through the campus newspaper for a job. Maybe I can finally pursue that dream of becoming a stripper." The woman on the other end of the line released a quiet chuckle upon hearing the grin in her son's voice, and Danny could already imagine that warm smile gracing her face, regardless of the crude joke. At the mentioning of the job search, an arm outstretched to where the aforementioned newspaper lay atop the nightstand and tugged it over, one hand resting underneath his head while the other held the thin paper up. The thought of getting a job was terrifying, to say the least. It wasn't the whole idea of working, no, but the idea of working in a new place with new faces that Danny knew he would eventually have to remember. Maybe if the halfa were back home, sure. At least there he recognized half the town and practically the entire high school by his senior year. Being the town's hero helped on that end. Then it hit him. Ghosts came and went because, well, unfortunately deaths happened more than once every day. Suicides, stabbings, car accidents, you name it. How long would it be before he had to become_ this_ town's hero? The nausea hit him like a massive wave crashing against a ship caught in a bad storm.

"Mom, uh... I'll call you back, okay?" A pang of guilt hit him when he heard the grief in his mother's goodbye, but the nausea was stronger. Scrambling off the bed with no regard to his phone crashing to the floor or the door he'd left wide open, Danny hurried down the hall of dorm rooms, pushing through small crowds of other students with a hand clamped over his mouth, and to the bathroom. He'd never been more thankful for a restroom being empty, other than the times he needed to go ghost. His knees hit the floor with a dull thud, sending a brief shock of pain through his bones before he bent over the porcelain bowl and gave into the need to vomit. Over the sounds of retching, the faint distinctions of chattering reached his ears. If that voice didn't sound familiar, he didn't know what did. Once the clearing of his stomach was finally over with, Danny flushed the contents away with a grimace and haphazardly leaned against the stall wall. A quiet "You okay in there?" was directed to him, to which he answered with a weak "yeah". Time to get out, Fenton, he told himself, body finally receiving the signal to pick itself up and. Boy, Danny was _not_ ready, nor was he all too pleased, to see Kwan's face on his first step out of the stall. How bad was his luck?

"So you're attending this university, too?" Of course Kwan would want to stick around for a chat. Because puking one's guts out wasn't enough to drive someone away. But at the least the once-bully was being kind enough (strange as it was) to watch over him, which primarily meant drag him to the cafeteria for a drink of water and something to settle his stomach, and make sure he wasn't on the verge of passing out. Which he was. At least he knew where the cafeteria was now.

"Yeah, kinda...," Danny muttered in response low enough in hopes that the taller one couldn't hear. But to no avail. Kwan was as persistent as ever. Maybe even more so than back in high school. A slap to the back was the former athlete's response, followed by a sheepish chuckle and an apologetic grin. After a year and some months of maturing, it was no surprise that Kwan's strength hadn't diminished.

"That's great! What's your major?" Great, he had to tell him what his major was, too? Might as well have tea with the dude and call it a day. _Just_ as Danny opened his mouth to reluctantly sigh out his response, though, a harmonic beeping sounded through the air to distract the taller of the two. The words lingering on his tongue morphed to a sigh of relief as Kwan busied himself with his phone, before giving Danny a much gentler pat on the shoulder.

"Sorry 'bout that, dude, but I gotta head out. Man, I can't wait to tell Dash you're here, too! See ya soon!" And with his final parting words, Kwan disappeared into the crowd of the cafeteria he'd previously lugged Danny to. Horrified wasn't quite the word for how the halfa felt. Dash was here? Could Danny have died and went to Hell? Because it sure felt like it. And as the snow outside began to leisurely cascade from the evening sky, shaded in colors of dark clouds stretching over the deep pinks and purples of the sky, Danny felt his hopes of getting away from the abuse being covered in a blanket of frost.


End file.
